Drilling installations for oil-drilling operations commonly involve a very high drilling rig, which is used for handling and storing drill-pipes. These drill-pipes, which are assembled end to end as drilling progresses, are driven by a rotary table, and themselves drive the drilling bit. They are raised and supported by a winch, operating through a block line installed between the crown of the rig and the drill-pipe.
Until now, the drilling rig has been installed and erected by means of a base supporting the drilling winch which is used with a derrick to raise the mast, hinged to the base. This same winch, supported by an articulated parallelogram device, is then raised above the base and used to install a working floor, also raised above the base and consisting of removable components carried on girders stretching from the winch to a drill-pipe storage container which rests on the base and is also installed by the winch.
Installation operations are quite long and therefore costly. They also have to be repeated every time the installation is moved.
This invention concerns a new drilling installation which is particularly convenient and quick to erect. This ease of erection makes the invention extremely labour- and time-saving.
This new drilling installation, comprising a base resting on the ground, a rig, a winch, items of equipment such as a drill-pipe storage coffer, and a working floor which is raised above the base, surrounding the rig, is characterized by the fact that it includes a carrying platform designed to take the mast and which can be moved from a low position in contact with the base to a high position, this platform being connected by a suitable lifting device to raising uprights attached to the base, the said platform also supporting the working floor and items of equipment.
The raising uprights lift the platform by means of racks which connect with pinions on the platform, the system being driven by a reduction unit.
This means that when the rig has been raised to a vertical position by the normal method, the platform, which preferably forms a single unit with the drilling winch, can be raised to the high position and provide direct support for the working floor.
This saves a considerable amount of time.
Other purposes and benefits of this invention will appear from the following description of one possible embodiment of such an installation, illustrated by the accompanying figures.